Open Eyes
by Signora Ted
Summary: A fiery young Irish woman flees her home country in search of a place where she could do good for the people, leaving behind her past of violence and unjustified thievery. With a talent for training horses with her odd techniques, she is valuable. Valuable to the Sheriff, valuable to the King and also, valuable to the infamous Robin Hood. She will fight the Outlaws, or become one.


_**A/N: Why do I do this to myself? WHY? I mean, why would I start a new story? Gaaah! But this was begging to be written! And I do love BBC's Robin. He's cheeky and I like that : ) So here all, my first chapter. I don't know when this will be updated but I'm in transition year in school, which means no homework at all so.. Let's hope!**_

_**Disclaimer: Me no ownsy BBC's Robin Hood, hence it being called BBC's. However I do own Sorcha and her gang of undesirables. **_

Emerald eyes squinted through the branches and leaves of a tree full of green in Sherwood Forest. The eyes focused on a band of men, who were currently helping themselves to coins from a chest in what would have been presumed to be the Sheriff's cart full of taxes.

They wore green, blending into the forestry surrounding them. The eyes saw six men in total circling the chest, joking and laughing with each other. There was a large gruff looking man with unruly curly hair and a staff; a smaller man wearing a bandana, covering the majority of his ginger hair and with a chin grazed with stubble. Another two men of a similar height, the eyes observed, were patting each other on the back. One skinny with a faint mustache; the other with tousled hair and a long straight nose. The shortest man of the lot came from behind the two, and hugged the first. His dark completion suggested to the eyes that he was Saracen, or of Saracen heritage. The last of the men, stood somewhat apart from the cheerful group; arms folded and back turned to them.

That was all the eyes could see of the famous Robin Hood.

"Come on Robin," Much said, strolling up behind Robin of Locksley and putting his hands on the other man's shoulders enthusiastically.  
"Another successful day if I may say so myself. I don't know why you've got the long face on for!"

Robin turned to his old friend to see his usual goofy smile stretched across his face. Usually Robin would have had a matching grin on his own face, however not today. Today, he had other things on his mind.

"It's nothing, Much." he replied, giving his friend a quick smile and a shake of the head.  
"Take the taxes back to the camp. I'll catch up it you later."

While the other men heard Robin's orders and began to move the money to the camp, Much frowned and gave Robin a suspicious glance. Much nearly always knew when something was bugging his old master and a little smile wouldn't change how Much knew Robin.

"It's about Marian, isn't it? It's about her and Gisborne, isn't it? Gisborne ain't nothing but a nasty old-"

"Much!"

Robin's eyebrows were knitted together with annoyance and overall frustration at both his internal debates and his friend's pointless ramblings.

"Alright! Alright!," Much said, hands in the air in his defense as he backed away slowly down the hill, away from Robin.  
"Just come back in a better mood, won't you? I'll not have tension at my meals!"

Robin had at this point, already turned his back to Much once again and rolled his eyes as he heard the other man stomp his way down the hill in the direction the others had gone.  
Much was right. It was Marian and Gisborne that was bugging him. She had begun to feel for the Sheriff's right hand man, that much was clear to him. And there was absolutely no doubt Gisborne returned those feelings. The man was infatuated with her; obsessed. Jealousy was raging in the pit of Robin's stomach. Gisborne got to see her everyday, had the means to protect her with the power he gained from the Sheriff. Robin had created a debate within his mind over it all. Hold on to what he and Marian had or did have, or urge her to move on with her life. Even if that did mean that she would end up with a man like Gisborne.  
It wouldn't be that bad, he told himself. Gisborne could provide for her, protect her and more importantly, he loved her. He would keep her safe and happy. Truly, what future could himself and Marian have unless the king came back and Prince John and the Sheriff's damage was undone? He had no future at all, not even with Marian. So was Robin being selfish by trying to hold on to her?

Snap.

His train of thought broke as the twig in the tree above him also broke. Before he could fully look up into the tree, a figure swung down in front of him. A woman.

Dangling with her knees wrapped around the limb of the tree above Robin, the woman hung upside down in front of his face. Her thin pink lips were inches away from Robin's own as she grinned at him. Curly ginger hair hung down past her face by the force of gravity, while a red eyebrow remained raised above her emerald eyes.

"And what have we got here?" she practically purred as she moved one of her dangling arms to Robin's face. Slowly, she moved a long slender finger down the outline of his jaw, his prickly stubble tickling her skin.

Robin was slightly puzzled after being snuck up on. Had he really been that deep in thought? He studied the woman with a quick glance across her features. She was pale, he noted, with lots of freckles spotting her under her right eye.

"Who's askin'?" he replied calmly, raising an eyebrow of his own. However calm he may have looked, his body and brain acted otherwise. Out of the woman's line of sight, Robin had a grip on a knife that was strapped to his belt.

"My name, friend, is Sorcha"

The woman extended her right hand for him to shake, whilst she continued to hang from above. Robin cautiously took her hand in his own and shook it. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, she cut him off before swinging back up onto the limb so she was sitting on it, and then she leapt down beside him.

"No need to introduce yourself, love. The notorious Robin Hood needs no introduction."

Robin had of course met people who had known of him before, however this woman had a cheek about her. A certain confidence that he so often found in himself. He also noticed from her accent and name, that she was most defiantly Irish.

"What business can I help you with then, Lady Sorcha?" he smiled, giving her a little bow. Boy, he hoped she was a potential ally. He could just see Much fume as she would glide into the camp with the same swagger that annoyed his old friend about him so much.

"Oh heavens, drop the lady my dear fellow. I'm simply here to offer you a proposition. Which in turn I would like your help. Are you game?"

Robin propped his hands on his belt as he thought through it for a moment before giving her a nod.

"You see Mr. Hood, up until recently, I ran with a gang of bandits across the water. We weren't at all overly skilled with weaponry or the sorts, but lemme tell you, we had good ways. See, they had horses. And well, I'm quite good with horses. So I used to train the horses to do specific things,"

Robin's ears almost began to move with interest. He thought he knew where this was going. Having a skilled horse woman, who could train horses to act for their scams, could be a huge advantage to them.  
New scams and tricks that they could accomplish with trained horses swarmed Robin's mind until he realized Sorcha had not finished her piece and he immediately swept his mind clean.

"I could be a help. I heard of what you try to do for these people, Hood, and I'd like to make a difference that my old gang failed to achieve. I can fight if I'm brought to it; I've heard your group is associated with bows. I can do that and knives. I'm also a quick and stealthy climber. I swear I could be of use."

There was a silence as the woman stared hopefully at Robin, her fingers wrung together. She couldn't read his face. She could always read expressions. That was another skill she had acquired, however it would be her little secret. But she could not read his face.

"What are your conditions?" he said finally, moving his hand from his chin where it had been resting.  
"You sounded like there was a 'but' to come. What are your conditions?"

"Protection."

Robin's eyebrows rose high in his forehead as he leaned forward slightly to make sure he had heard correctly. He had expected something different. What could this woman truly need protection from?

"When the time comes, some people will come looking for me. All I ask is somewhere to hide while I'm being sought after."

Although she had still not answered his internal question, Robin had already accepted her. However she did not need to know this. Instead, she would feel the heat of the rest of the group before he would tell her she could stay regardless. He was sure he would get a laugh out of it.

"Well, Sorcha. It's not up to me to decide." Liar. "We have to see what the rest of the group think. I'm not sure if they'll be happy with it," Liar.

She smiled, unknowingly following a man who would, in the next half hour, make a complete fool out of her. That is the only test she has got to pass, Robin thought to himself as he led her to the camp. All she had to do was make it through a half hour with the gang.


End file.
